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Topic: In Search of Redemption (Read 20963 times)

Silas had been fighting hard, and fighting for a long time. He didn't even hear the cheers that followed him into the arena anymore, it was simply a white noise now, that meant more blood. Blood, some of it his, most of it belonging to whoever happened to be put against him that day.

Whatever poor person, who, like he, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and got captured by the slavers. The slavers sold the men who wouldn't go into the army to the Arena, who knew they could turn quite the gold piece for this, "entertainment" of the masses, pitting man against man, or against wild beasts.

The beast fights were predictable: you fought, or you were ripped apart by the hungry creatures. You were their food. The fights against the roommate were not so easy. Until they told you that there were extra rations for the winner. Then you found yourself fighting for your life against an animal, yourself turned into one as well, hungry and eager for your reward.

That wasn't quite the case for Silas anymore, he was the "favored fighter" now. So he got special quarters and extra rations as it was. He was just expected to win.

He looked down at his opponent, the fear in the man's eyes registering somewhere in the back of his head next to the fact that today marked his year's survival in the hell-hole. He thrust his blade through the man's neck quickly and cleanly, and walked towards the gate. He raised his arms in victory, going through the motions. It made them happy.

His soul felt empty.

« Last Edit: July 11, 2007, 05:38:00 PM by Lanfear57 »

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

[some setting]Nearby, there is a medium-ish city called Sarenton. It is about a day's walk to the south-west.To the south-east about a half-day's walk is a small town called Leola.You may populate these with whatever characters and plots as you wish.Just to the north of the Arena are some hills with some cave systems in them. These hills are the foothills to the rather grand Mountains of Bijolarn.

Anything else is up for grabs, make it as you wish. (including myths, rumors, whatever. have fun.)As i have been asked, this is high fantasy, mages are welcome and not particularly unusual in most of the land, although I'm sure there will be some places where there is less magic than others. It happens.

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There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

High up in the Mountains of Bijolarn, the tiny kingdom of Taldos hid away from the world. It was inaccessible enough and concealed by the mountain mists often enough that it was almost universally ignored. That suited the Oligarchs well. Taldos could not muster enough of a military force to defend itself properly, but the isolation and small size made it easy for the Oligarchs to maintain iron control. Although the kingdom sat on rich deposits of copper and was prosperous, the Oligarchs hoarded most of that wealth. They could do so without fear because they, alone of all the people of Taldos, had learned the arts of magic. The Oligarchs were feared and obeyed because of that power, and they took care that no one could challenge them. The peasants of Taldos were forbidden from learning or practicing magic.

That was what had gotten Daios almost killed. He had never studied magic, and had spent most of his time working in the mines with his father, his uncles, and his cousins. Living an ordinary life. Then there had been the cave in. Daios, his cousin Keld, and two other men were trapped when a shaft collapsed. Somehow, Daios had been able to do things. He was able to make a rock glow enough to cast a good light, and he was able to nudge enough rocks that he created a tiny air shaft. He was even able to call for help, although the nearest mining crew was out of earshot. He saved his own life, and the lives of the miners who had been trapped with him.

But instead of thanking him, all but his cousin drew away from him, treating him as a stranger. They would not speak to him and avoided him like he carried mine-sickness. Two days later, the Oligarchs came for him. They would have killed him, except his cousin Kled came and warned him, giving him time to flee. Kled was repaid by fire called down from the heavens when the Oligarchs found out what he had done. Unable to save his cousin, the only one who had stood by Daios, he fled down the mountain. He evaded pursuit long enough to reach the trade road and made it out of the mountains.

That had been two weeks ago. He'd been hiding in a cave in the lower hills ever since, trying to experiment with his new (and unwanted) abilities. Sometimes, he'd snuck out at night to steal food, but he didn't like getting too close to the big arena that wasn't too far away. He could hear crowds of people screaming and laughing, and beasts roaring, and he saw men going in and not coming back out. It was bad enough with the Oligarchs after him, he didn't want to deal with that frightening place as well.

"Hey man, good job out there. I heard this was your last one. Glad I didn't get pulled to go against you, huh? You've really been here a year? No one makes it a year. No one makes it more'n a month, man. They started lettin people go after two a couple weeks back. Today was my two month. So I-" "I have no idea how you made it this far, Alton. Probably annoyed your opponent to death, eh?" "You're funny Silus. Anyway, I heard some rumors from some of the guys who want in on some of the fights, they-" "Why they would want in this place I don't know. They're likely to get themselves killed." "They said that there're some goblins or something in one of the caves in the hills back here, they say they've got a great lot of treasure to be had! We could go and get it? Huh? What do you think?"

"I think you did a fine job out there today Silas." That was Brutus, a big, burly man, who was large more from spending too much time at his table than from anything involving activity. "Although, you know, you could have drawn it out a little longer. Toyed with him. But that's all show. Good for the money. Ha" His belly bounced as he chuckled. "BUt. If you want, you are free to go. You are officially the champion of this Arena. Welcome to stay and fight, too. For pay of course." He added hurriedly. "I think I'll be leaving" Silas said coolly. "Well, we have something of a prize for you. It's a somewhat, ah, better sword than you've been using, and some armor that hasn't been torn to scraps. Heh. Hope you appreciate it." "Greatly. I'll be going then."

"Silas! Wait up! We gonna go goblin hunting? That's a nice sword he gave you. I wonder if I can find a nice sw-" "Alton. Shut up. Yes we can go goblin hunting, but only if you shut up. OK? Good."

Gods it'll be good to be out of this hellhole. I just wonder what I'm going to do with myself.

Making his way through the bustles of people near the main entrance, Silas had to keep reminding himself that he was not about to be assaulted. It was weird, being around all those people and all that noise, and not in imminent danger, not in a fight. "You there. Gladiator" called a voice from the crowd. Silas looked around, he and Alton were the only ones leaving. "Godd**n it, I'm leaving now" He growled, continuing to push his way through. The voice caught up to them "There you are. Earned a lot of money today, thanks to you, Silas." "Great. I'm leaving, so bet on someone else." He turned to walk away "If you're leaving, the mayor of Sarenton I heard is looking for a strong arm or two to help in something. You seem to be able to handle yourself, so you might want to look into it." "Sure. Politics. Great. Come on, Alton. Let's go get some goblins."

*************************

Silas felt weary of all the people, and just wanted, strangely enough, to do something he was good at: fight. At least if they found any goblins the little buggers would deserve it, they had raided and looted nearly all the villages near his home and killed livestock there. Hunting goblins was not something Silas was unused to. The Arena had given them both some basic "adventuring gear" as they called it, a bag with a torch and flint inside, and a sleeping bag. Cheap enough stuff, but functional. To a point. The two got near the cave that was supposed to be housing the goblins, and they could tell. It reeked of the creatures. "Well, it looks, ah, smells, like we're here. Don't go charging off, they can see us a lot better than we can see them. And they're little buggers, so they're hard to hit." "Uh-huh." Alton was wrinkling his nose, and for once not jabbering on about something. He actually looked focused. "Shall we then?" Silas lit his torch and proceeded into the cave, making sure Alton was with him. "Uhhhuhuhmmm..." murmured Alton. "What it is?" "This might not be su-such a gr-great idea.." "Don't worry. There's not going to be a lot of them, and they really aren't that tough. Or really smart either. Heh." "It's not that. Oh, never m-mind. Can I c-carry the t-t-torch?" "Hah. Sure. If it makes you feel better. Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark?" "Of course not! well maybe a little..." "Well then let's kick some goblin ass"

They walked some ways through the cave, when Alton stopped. "What's that?" "What's what? oh" There were 4 red orbs dully glowing at them from the darkness beyond the torchlight. "Those are our first goblins." He drew his sword and motioned for Alton to do the same. "We have no surprise on them, but they don't on us either."

The goblins saw the glint of steel being drawn as they were already running towards the intruders.

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

Daios suddenly woke up. He'd dozed off near the mouth of his cave. He lay still for a moment, trying to figure out what had woken him. He was listening for the tell-tale signs of danger- creaking or groaning that could precede a tunnel collapse, a gurgling that meant an underground stream could break through the wall. There was nothing that he could readily identify, but the instincts he'd developed from working in the mines since his childhood told him something was wrong.

Then he realized what it was. People, nearby, fighting. It wasn't in this particular cave, but it was close or connected. His first thought was that the Oligarchs had found him, but that didn't make much sense when he thought about it. Why would the Oligarchs be in a different cave, and why would they be fighting at all? The Oligarchs had no need to resort to mundane weapons. Then he remembered. These caves were home to goblins. He'd been avoiding them without really thinking about it; they'd chased most of the goblins out of the copper mines back home, but there were still some around, and it was easier to avoid them than to fight them.

Daios thought he should really move; there was no telling if the fight would remain confined, or if it would move to a different cave, and more goblins might show up. But he was curious; it didn't sound quite like a confrontation between two groups of goblins. And if a group of humans was involved, it would be good to find out who it was. He quietly picked up his satchel, the only thing he had, and made his way towards the sounds.

(OOC: I figure Diaos will sort of creep into the cave where the fight is going on, and try to stay hidden and watch. He's about fifteen, with a sort of scrawny build, like he hasn't ever really had enough to eat. He's also dirty and pretty ragged looking.)

Alton ran towards the goblins, waving both the torch and his sword madly about.The goblins ran towards Alton, morningstars at the ready. Then the waving flame got near their faces, and they ducked. Alton crashed into them, scattering weapons and bodies on the floor. He did, however, somehow manage to keep hold of the torch, which he was using to keep the goblins from jumping on him as he scurried backwards, on his butt, towards the wall.Amateur, thought Silas as he sliced into the first of the goblins, his new sword easily taking off an arm at the shoulder, flashing, very briefly, violet on contact. hmm? what was that? Are these buggers enchanted with something or was that my sword? The goblin yelled, and tried to bash him with the little wooden shield it had. Off balance from suddenly losing an arm, tho, it fell on its back where Silas quickly finished it off.The remaining goblin was leering at Alton, and had pulled out a small knife. Alton proceeded to smack it in the face with the torch, which sent the thing staggering backwards onto Silas' waiting blade. There was a purple flash and a slight crackle as the goblin slid along it, nicely skewered."Nice hit" commented Silas as he wiped Goblin blood off his blade. It didn't seem to take much to keep this sword shiny. Alton retrieved his sword from where he had dropped it, and walked back to Silas, glancing down the tunnel they had come from."Silas? Is that another one?" There was another set of eyes, and something else vaguely outlined behind it in the slight glow from the entrance.

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

Daios had crept around to the tunnel where the fighting was going on. It hadn't been hard to find; just like he'd thought, it was goblins, and a pair of human fighters. They were strangers to him, probably from one of the local villages. He watched the fight for a moment. Clearly, the big one at least knew what he was doing, and the other one didn't seem to have much problem either. Between the two of them, they dealt with two goblins in short order.

He was about to slip out the way he had come when he realized a third goblin was sneaking up behind them. It had gotten close enough that it would be able to attack before they noticed it, and Daios could just make out the knife it was holding. If these goblins were anything like the ones back home, there was poison on that knife, and it had a good chance of hitting an unarmored spot.

Without thinking, he flung out one arm, pointing at the goblin. A white bolt of light shot from his hand and impacted square in the goblin's back, sending it flying across the cave. It was quite dead by the time it stopped rolling. Of course, it had been a fairly overt display, and the two men were just turning around when he did it. He froze, his eyes meeting the big one's for a moment. They had SEEN him! Moreover, they had seen him *do* something! He backed up a step, then turned and ran, bolting out of the cave.

That wasn't the best of ideas, as it turned out. His eyes were used to the dark cave, and the sunlight outside temporarily blinded him. He threw an arm up over his eyes, but doing that and trying to run over rocky ground at the same time made him lose his balance, and he tripped. He got up and kept going, but had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to be able to outrun the two fitter men.

"What the-" The two fighters quickly gave chase, and saw the boy stumbling to his feet outside the cave."Hold it there kiddo" said Silas as they caught up "We're not going to hurt you. That was pretty cool what you did back there. Never got a lot of magic in the Arena""That was really bright and it hit the goblin and did you see it bounce? I swear it bounced 3 times! I-" Silas was glaring at Alton again. He shut up."The, ah, chatty one here is Alton. I'm Silas. Mind if I ask as to who you are and why you were in a goblin cave by yourself?"

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

Daios was terrified. He didn't know these two, and he didn't speak the trade-tongue very well. It didn't sound like they meant him any harm, but even if they didn't, his hiding place wasn't safe any more. "Ah... please... I did not on purpose... I won't again!" He was getting all muddled. "You let Daios go now, yes please? Cave yours, no tell." He was still backing up a little, trying to decide if he could get away if he made a break for it.

Silas sheathed his sword and put a comforting, but firm around around Daois. "So your name is Daois, huh?" He said, speaking his own language from back home. Being from a coastal town just over the mountains, he recognized somewhat the accent with which the kid spoke, if rather choppily, common. "Do you understand this any better? We don't want to scare you off, and you certainly didn't do anything wrong. That was some cool magic you did back there." He tried to be as comforting as possible, but kids had never been his strong suit. Shoot, Alton was fifteen, but that was old enough to take some rather blunt remarks. This kid looked like he was12, maybe 13. Certainly not old enough to be away from home on his own.

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

Daios froze as the big man put his sword away and put his arm around him. He switched into another language, that was at least similar to Daios's, although he still had to think hard about it to get it right. "Ah, some better. Yes, Daios is me. I don't... understand so much. Magic is... not bad?" The language was strange enough to him that he wasn't sure he'd understood it correctly. It was, he supposed, possible that magic wasn't forbidden in this place. He actually hoped it wasn't; once he'd started developing his abilities, it hadn't felt right to keep from using them. He was still scared, but if he could communicate, it was a little better for him. Besides, they hadn't killed him yet, so maybe it would be okay.

It felt good to be able to speak from home and have someone at least partially understand it, even if they didn't themselves speak it. "Nah, magic is not bad. We like magic here. It's useful. And if someone tries to tell you otherwise, we'll rough em up for you. How's that sound?" Silas was a little worried, though. Who had made this kid afraid of magic? That he was using? "No good to be afraid of yourself, Daios. But where are your parents? aren't they worried about you?"

Alton stood there, not understanding a lot, since he only could even try to understand one side of their conversation. And Daios didn't speak common very well. Confusion, though, seemed to be one of the few ways to make Alton quiet of his own accord.

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

Daios lost all expression. "Parents... ah, up the mountain. Less bad for them if Daios gone, worry if come back." Even if they'd not wanted him to go, they'd have to give him to the Oligarchs if he went home. But they had looked at him like he was a stranger ever since the cave in, and most people in Taldos hated strangers. He didn't, which was all the better for him now. He wasn't so afraid now, since these people seemed like they wouldn't hurt him. He was curious now. "This is where? I don't know place."

Alton, who was ironically the only person not speaking, heard it first. it was the sound of a horse drawn carriage. The sound grew louder and louder until the first glimpse came around the corner.

To any who cared, it was an odd sight. Rolling along, sitting in front of a giant pile of random junk and debris was an old man riding on a horse-drawn-carriage... with no horses.

There was every sign that horses drew the carriage. The way it jerked ever so slightly forerward when it moved, the sound of hooves hitting the ground, and to the careful observer, hoof marks making their way foreward in front of the carriage.

In the carriage, was every type of debris possible. From string and yarn, to swords and axes, it was all piled on top of itself in one huge heap of junk. If there was a point to having all of this debris, it must have been to melt into scrap iron, because nobody could possibly find anything that they were looking for in that mess.

The smell of cheese wafted up along the road, stronger and stronger until the cart stopped in front of the three strangers. The old man looked down at them.

Hello strangers. Would anybody happen to need anything? Anything at all. You can find it all here, at Havinars emporium. I am the owner of the shop, Ha-

...

...

The old man just sat there, staring out into space, and if it weren't for the sound of a slight snore erupting from his throat, it would be impossible to tell that he had fallen asleep...

"This is -" He wrinkled his nose, smelling cheese. "Cheesy. Delicious. Not the place. Hold that thought, would you?"

"...owner of the shop, Ha-" at this the man cut off, and a light gurgle emanated from his slack jaw."What the..." Silas poked lightly at the now sleeping driver, amazed that he hadn't gotten himself killed or robbed blind from this weird.. habit.Not that anyone could figure out whats useful in that hunk of junk without waking the dead."Hello?" no response. "Wake up" he poked the old man some more. Still no response. "I want to buy something." With a snort the old man looked down at him. "I knew that would work. Can always get a merchant's attention that way."

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

The old man awoke with a start. "huh whaa buh? Oh!" he said looking down in surprise at these three young strangers.

"Hello strangers. Would anybody happen to need anything? Anything at all. You can find it all here, at Havinars emporium. I am the owner of the shop, Havinar. From Ale and food, to magics and spells, if you want it, Havinar's Emporium carries it.

Can I interest you in some scented candles? Howabout a leather glove. Half price because the other one is missing. Or, what about a glass bottle. Everybody could use a glass bottle.

Or howabout you sir, with the sword. You look like the scholarly type. I just happen to have this fascinating book on the Shodurr empire that you would find just fascinating...

Daios couldn't keep up with the fast speech of the old man, so he looked at the... contraption, instead. He was sort of torn between being alarmed and fascinated. He'd seen wagons before, but none that went on their own. Curiosity won out, and he cautiously drew closer to look at the front of the wagon. No horses, but there were hoof-tracks. It was very strange. Although, if the old man was casually travelling around with such a thing, then at least he hadn't misunderstood the big warrior (he thought his name was Silas...), and magic wasn't bad here. That was good; maybe it would be okay for Daios to stay here. It wasn't his mountains, but the Oligarchs apparently held no sway here. But for the moment, he wanted to know how the wagon worked... He hesitantly extended a hand, trying to feel if the horses were there, just couldn't be seen.

As the boy reached out to touch the horse, if it was really a horse, he could feel the hairs on his arm standing on end. It felt a lot like when he had thrown that lightning, that feeling of energy moving across his skin, and along his body, making you want to shiver with the strength of it. Except this time, it was much less intense. Like a vague shadow of a vague shadow of what had been. Still, it was a somber reminder of what isolated him from his family and friends. That somehow he was connected to the world of lightning without clouds, and horses that couldn't be seen.

His arm reached and reached foreward without touching anything until his arm could barely go any further, and then...something.

It was a horse. He could feel it breathing in and out like any other, it's powerful heart supplying a massive creature with life. The feel of short brisly hairs overtop it's skin, and the smell of livestock in the air. Daios's hairs were resting still against his skin now, that electric feeling gone, that vague memory vanished. If Daios closed his eyes, nothing distinguished this from any other horse he had seen.

"Oh, hello young lass. I see you have taken a keen interest in my horses."

The old man, whether he had realized it or not, was talking in Daios's native tounge. The language sounded rough and unused coming from the old man's mouth, but it was familiar.

"The one with the green mane is called Pego, and the one with the red stripe is Tcheckeghira. They are both very nice horses, but Pego can be a bit rowdy, so make sure not to put your hand near his throat or tail. Horses get nervous if you do that."

The old man produced two small green fruits from his pocket and held them out in front of him, to Daios.

"Here little girl, go ahead and give them each one of these. It's called a...a...I think that it is called a Zwikiki, yes thats right, a Zwikiki. Horses love Zwikiki's, and also, they help bring out a glossy coat and mane!"

Havinar turned back to Silas, changing his tounge almost flawlessly to match not only Silas's language, but also his heavy accent.

"I know exactly what you could use! Howabout a charming pair of moon bracelets! You take one, and your wife over there gets the other one. Then, the next time the moon is out, as long as you two are near each other, it will glow with a faint bluish hue that represents the bond between you two. It is the perfect gift for a young married couple such as yourselves."

How very strange. Daios wasn't scared of the old man's magic, exactly, but it was very strange. He still couldn't actually see the horses, but they were there. He patted what felt to be the shoulder of the one he was touching, then looked up as the old man spoke to him. He was surprised and pleased that the old man knew his language, although since Daios hadn't said anything since he'd arrived, he didn't know how the old man had known which language to speak.

The surprise of that was almost enough to make him forget the peculiar feelings he'd had when he first reached out, or the way he'd almost thought that he hadn't been touching flesh at all, but warm glass or slightly unrefined copper.

He accepted the two fruits, but as he inspected them (having never seen their like), he spoke to the old man in his own language. "I can't see your horses, grandfather, so I can't tell them apart. And I'm not a girl." But he took the two strange fruits to where the horses' heads should be, and held them out on flat palms, waiting to see what would happen.

Silas was taken aback. "Uhmm. Sorry to disappoint you, Mr, ah, Havinar, but I'm not married, and certainly not to either of these two boys." He made sure to emphasize that last word, so that no one in the group would have to suffer that embarrassment more than once. "Wait. He understood you. He didn't stutter. And I understand you, you're speaking my language from Liningia, from home. So you can translate between us. Can you teach Daios Common?"

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

He pulled out a pair of very thick eyepieces, and putting them on he exclaimed "Oh! So your are right! Forgive an old man his poor eyesight.

As he said this, Daios could feel the horses mouth touching his hand, and then the fruit. The sensation was not quite the same as having closed his eyes while the horse groped for the food. The conflict between his eyes and his hands made everything feel both more distinct, and yet more surreal at the same time.

There was no bite sized chunks that disappeared from the "Zwikiki", but the fruit simply vanished from sight, as if it too had become invisible. Only moments later, the same happened with the other fruit.

"Teach him common...? Common what?" He paused in thought for a moment, "Oh! Common knowledge, of course!"

"Young boy," he said changing languages, his accent matching Daios's far closer than before "Don't count your chickenpox before they catch, don't bite a hamster to feed you, and never eat all your hogs in one banquet."

Switching languages again "There, that should do it I think"

The horses had finished eating the fruits.

OOC: Sorry for taking so long to post. I havent worked less than 11 hours a day since last wednesday.

Daios was trying to decide if he liked the invisible horses or not when he was completely distracted by the old man's sudden random statements. "Ah... right." He shook his head. The old man was clearly mad. As the old man turned to Silas, Daios caught his eye and tapped the side of his head unobtrusively, then pointed at the man on the cart. It was nice that he could speak the same language, but it didn't help much, since the old man didn't really seem to make much sense any way.

He was curious about one thing, tho. "Are you from the mountains too, Grandfather? Is that why you speak like I do?"

Alton had been staring at Daios feed the invisible "horses", and have the fruit disappear. "Mr. Havinar? Why can't we see the horses? Can you actually see them? Can anyone else see them? Do you keep them in an invisible stable, too? How do you keep track of what's in your cart? Is there anything" he went around to the back and peered through the debris as best he could, "magical in there??" No longer confused, his curiosity was getting the better of his mouth again. Some shiny trinket in the middle of the pile caught his eye, and he started reaching for it.

**********************

Silas had given up trying to control Alton. If he was going to break something, the kid was gong to have to take care of things himself. "I meant the common, or trade language. Sir. But can you tell me what this sword is? I got it for leaving the Arena over there, and I think it might have some kind of, special properties. Either that or goblins spark all of a sudden, and I've never seen that before."

[OOC] out from friday until heaven knows when. If i have internet I will keep posting up otherwise sorry [/OOC]

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

"Hmmm, no, of course not. I am not from the mountains. Why, look at my eyes, boy, they aren't even the right shape!"

And indeed, if Daios really thought about it, and thought hard, the elderly man's eyes really were different from those of his family and friends.

"I, lad, am a great merchant salesman. I know many languages, and the people of their origins. It only makes sense that I would know the native language of miners such as yourself."

Alton seemed to catch Havinar off guard with his questions. "Why, of course I can see them, can't you? No of course not, what would I want with an invisible stable? Everything I own is carefully organized by weight, volume, orig... Yes of course I have magical things in there. You should be..."

...

Silas's question fell on deaf ears. Havinar was sleeping again.

Meanwhile, Alton pulled his hand out of the merchandise with his prize. It was...a mirror. It was the reflection of a small octagonal mirror that was looking back at Alton. A nice decoration perhaps, but not what he had hoped for.

And then...his reflection winked at him.

Was is a mistake of the eye? Had his reflection really winked at him? He was so engrossed with what he had seen, that he never even noticed the man behind him, nor the catch-ring on his pole-arm that pulled Alton's feet into the air, and left him on the ground with a Halberd so close to his neck that he could shave by swallowing.

"You shouldn't be in such a rush to take things that aren't yours"

The figure stood glaring down at him, the sun behind him, illuminating the triangle on his red cape with that all too familiar "S" through the bottom. It was a mark of the Esherhal Knights. A well known, and well respected order who, as legend has it, were searching for the Crest of Divine Rights.